The Scribe by A. A. Chaudhuri – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

Making it as a lawyer has always been a cutthroat business.

A killer is targeting former students of The Bloomsbury Academy of Law. The victims – all female – are gruesomely butchered according to a pattern corresponding with the legal syllabus. Even more disconcerting are riddles sent by the killer to investigating officer, Chief Inspector Jake Carver, offering clues as to who is next and where they will die.

Up-and-coming lawyer Madeline Kramer, a former classmate of a number of the slain, soon finds her life turned upside down by the savagery. And when she decides to help Carver track down the killer, she places herself in mortal danger. Can Maddy and Carver unscramble the complex riddles and save the lives of those destined to die?

A. A. Chaudhuri’s Ripper-like mystery, The Scribe, throws down a challenge even hardened crime thriller fans will be unable to resist.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. The Scribe is the first in a new series of books that features a police officer and a lawyer. They start to work together when women that Maddy knows are found dead with differing messages carved onto their bodies.

It was a fascinating and gripping novel to read. I certainly read a lot of crime fiction but I can’t remember reading one where you get to know the victim just before their death. I found it created empathy and gave me a connection with them. Rather than just seeing them after their death. The flashbacks are also interesting, they don’t always work but they do so here. They gave a brief insight into the victims and their tutor. As they progress you do see the more unlikeable side to a few of them.

Carver and Maddy are strong characters and I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop. You see glimpses of their family lives but it doesn’t overpower the main storyline. I liked both of them and the other officer, Drake a lot. James and Elizabeth Stirling I absolutely detested, and I always admire an author who makes me feel that way about a character. They were amongst many that I suspected of being the killer.

This is a series I will definitely follow in the future. I want to know what happens next for both of them.